


Don't Mess With Things You Don't Understand

by Immortalnite



Series: Voltron Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ghost Hunting, Ghosts, M/M, Multi, Necromancy, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2018-12-15 23:09:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11816136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Immortalnite/pseuds/Immortalnite
Summary: Lance doesn't know at what point he thought that volunteering to go with Pidge on one of her ghost hunting trips was a good idea.~*~From the tumblr prompt:"Uhhhh a shklance fic?? Perhaps with Shiro as a werewolf, Keith as a vampire, and Lance as their human bf. Also perhaps with them and Hunk and Pidge as a ghost hunter crew,, im sorry i just. I love shklance If you wanna just do sheith thats good too,,"





	1. No One Told Keith Crypts Are Not Good Places To Have Dates

"Alright, google maps says it's the next left turn? In like a quarter mile." Lance glanced over anxiously at his friend, the fifteen year old kid who he had let drive his car in a moment of generosity that was quickly starting looking like a massive lapse in judgement.  
  
"Well, good to know. Sure wouldn't wanna accidentally turn off at the wrong spot." Pidge snarked back at him, continuing to zip along the empty one-lane road at twice the legal limit.  
  
Slowing slightly, but not enough to make Lance's nerves or Hunk's stomach quiet, Pidge took the first turn they'd seen in twenty miles, right onto a hard packed dirt road. The road lead them on for a few hundred feet before ending in a wrought iron gate that was shut tight. Pidge pulled the car to a rough stop and got out like nothing had happened.  
  
"Alright, losers, let's set up camp!"  
  
Pidge threw open the trunk of Lance's poor, abused blue sedan while Hunk stumbled out of the back seat, clutching his stomach.  
  
"Please, please, please never let her drive again." He moaned.  
  
Lance nodded in total agreement. "I'm taking my keys back."  
  
The whole excursion had been a birthday gift from Lance to Pidge. Lance's dad was the local sheriff so Lance was privvy to some of the weirder reports that he got regarding their small town. So when reports of odd vandalism and possible late-night break ins started to come from the old cemetary just outside the border of the park, Lance decided that, just this once, he'd plan out a ghost hunting trip for Pidge.  
  
Pidge was already pulling equipment out of the back of the car, bringing it over to a pile that she'd set up in front of the locked cemetary gates. Hunk and Lance joined her, pulling the last few things out and then locking up the car. Lance left it parked in front of the gates just in case they needed a quick getaway.  
  
It took Pidge barely a minute to pick the lock on the gate and then they were in. Pidge slipped in first, leaving the equipment in the pile by the gate while she looked around for signs of activity that would give her a clue of where to set up.  
  
Lance and Hunk looked at each other.  
  
"Rock paper scissors?"  
  
"Best of three."  
  
Lance probably needed to get a better strategy than throwing rock every single time.  
  
"Ok so how about I stand guard over the stuff and you get to walk around with the EMF meter?" Hunk crossed his arms and sat down by the pile.  
  
Lance sighed and dug the homemade meter out of the backpack. "One of these days I'll win and you'll be the one with the EMF meter."  
  
"One of these days you'll decide to not use throw rock every time."  
  
Lance stuck his tongue out a Hunk and switched the meter on, starting a methodical walk through each of the rows of tombstones. It stayed completely silent through the first three rows, but as soon as he turned into the fourth row, he started seeing fluctuations. They weren't really big enough to mean anything yet, so Lance just kept his eyes on the meter and kept walking.  
  
The fluctuations peaked as he reached the middle of the row, then declined, repeating the pattern in the next row with bigger waves, and the next. On a hunch, Lance stopped walking up and down rows of tombstones and headed straight for the little stone building that held the entrance to the crypt. Just as predicted, the meter spiked and kept climbing the closer he got to it.  
  
He glanced around, finding Pidge investigating a rusted out part of the fence.  
  
"Hey, the meter is going crazy over here." He called. She looked up from her inspection.  
  
"Great." She left the fence and walked over to him, leaning down to inspect the crypt door. "Hunk, over here. We're setting up camp."  
  
Hunk let out a groan and began to drag their stuff over while Pidge cautiously opened the door. The air just inside was surprisingly fresh, as thought it had been opened before. Pidge left the door open and checked her phone.  
  
"We aren't due to get any rain for the next few days at least, so it's alright to leave these doors open for now." Pidge took the tent from Hunk and she and Lance began to set it up. The tent was fully was fully covered in protective runes and sigils and symbols from a few dozen different cultures and Pidge had even managed to sew in a tube full of salt that wrapped around the base of the tent. It was what they used for storing equipment and hiding in if things got too scary.  
  
They set it up just outside the crypt, and stacked all of their equipment inside, setting aside three empty backpacks.  
  
"Ok, so everyone gets a flashlight, candles and a lighter," Pidge mumbled to herself, starting to divy up things. "Plus a battery pack and a walkie talkie."  
  
"Then I get the camera, Lance gets the EMF and thermometer, you get the EVP. As usual." Hunk finished.  
  
"Right!" Pidge handed then their things and they zipped the tent shut. "Usual rules, don't split up, say something if you see, hear or feel anything, always turn right when you go into the crypt so you only turn left to go out. Let's get started."  
  
Hunk and Lance trailed after Pidge, heading down into the crypt. The air stayed surprisingly fresh until they got deep enough to need their flashlights.  
  
"What exactly are we looking for?" Hunk nervously turned side to side, checking both the camera's display and the actual area.  
  
"According to my dad, the report came from a visitor to the cemetery. They came around dusk, and saw a shadow move through the gravestones towards the crypt. When they entered the crypt, they saw a pale man who shouted "leave" and quickly ran off. When they followed him, the doors slammed shut and voices started whispering at them. They got frightened and left, I guess." Lance repeated what his dad had told him of the report.  
  
"So, a shadow, whispering voices and a pale man?" Pidge hummed. "I'm inclined to think the man may have simply been a man, or maybe someone who was messing around with black magic? But not a threat as much as the voices and shadows."  
  
Lance nodded and lifted his sensors up higher. So far, there hadn't been any activity on them yet.  
  
"How long do we have until sunset?" Hunk asked.  
  
Pidge glanced down at her watch. "We left my house at about 5 o'clock, right? Took us maybe half an hour to get here and another half an hour to set up, so maybe 15-30 mins?"  
  
"Oh god. Ok, guys, maybe we should turn around then? It's already around dusk, and I don't want to get locked in here surrounded by scary voices, no thanks, so maybe we should just go back?" Just as Hunk paused, Lance's EMF meter spiked and the thermometer dropped.  
  
"Pidge!" Lance grabbed the thin gold chain around his neck that held a small cross.  
  
Pidge was already getting out the EVP recorder. "On it!"  
  
The flashlights flickered and Hunk screamed. Then, they all went out and the three were plunged into darkness.  
  
For a moment, everything was calm and they stood still, frozen with some irrational fear that movement would call unwanted attention.  
  
Then the voices started. Hissing, whispering, hushed voices, saying indecipherable things, started behind then and got closer. The temperature plummeted and the voices surrounded them. Lance gripped his cross tighter as Pidge fumbled for a candle. The voices grew and grew and then stopped suddenly.  
  
"RUN." A deep, scratchy voice, distorted and barely understandable rasped out of the shadows and Lance felt cold hands grab his legs, sides, arms, head, anywhere they could reach. He ran.  
  
He could hear Pidge and Hunk behind him, their footsteps echoing on the stone. The voices grew again, following them, but Lance's flashlight started to flicker, giving his just enough light to see ahead of him. He ran and ran until he came to a fork, and then he made his fatal mistake. He turned right.  
  
But he couldn't stop, the voices were still behind him, even if his friends weren't. His lungs were burning with musty air, and his thighs ached but Lance kept going until he ran smack into something noticably softer than a wall and fell.  
  
"Ow, fuck."  
  
Lance looked up at the familiar voice, head still thrumming with adrenaline. "Keith?"  
  
"How do you know me?" The person he'd run into- Keith- looked down at him in confusion.  
  
"We used to go to school together? You were a senior when I was a freshman." And Lance had also had the biggest crush on him, but he wasn't about to say that.  
  
"Oh." Keith frowned. "When was that? Four years ago? I don't remember you, sorry."  
  
"Three years, whatever." It stung but he wasn't going to get mad at a pretty guy while in a crypt after being chased by ghosts. "What are you even doing here?"  
  
"I could ask you the same thing. It isn't safe down here, especially if you've come alone." Keith crossed his arms. "You really should return to the surface."  
  
"I could say the same to you. But I didn't come alone. I was with two of my other friends, I just lost them when the voices told us to run. We were investigating." Lance mirrored Keith's pose. "What makes you so qualified to be here, anyway?"  
  
Keith's eyes widened. "I'm not alone either, my boyfriend is around here somewhere and I have experience, but what did you say? The voices spoke to you? Clearly?"  
  
"Yeah? It was a bunch of voices and then one really creepy voice yelled run."  
  
Keith drew in a sharp breath. "Ok, come with me. We're gonna find my boyfriend and then find your friends and get you kids out of here."  
  
"Hey, we're not kids. You're not that much older than we are." Lance pouted. Keith shrugged him off with an irritatingly knowing smirk. "Who's your boyfriend, anyway? And what are you doing still hanging around in this Arus? Shouldn't you be off to college or something?"  
  
Keith came to a fork and peered down both, squinting as if he could actually see down into the dark tunnels with just the weak light of Lance's flashlight before choosing the left one confidently. "His name's Shiro, he was a senior when I was a freshman, so you wouldn't know him. I'm hanging around here for him. He's got some family business, you could say, in Arus."  
  
Lance frowned. "Aren't you not supposed to put a boyfriend or girlfriend over college? What if you get a once in a lifetime chance to, I dunno, be an astronaut or something?"  
  
Keith seemed to find Lance's question hilarious. "I thought about going to be a pilot for the air force. You're right, it is a once in a lifetime chance. But people are once in an eternity chance."  
  
Lance glanced over at him. Irritatingly vague answers seemed to be his thing. "Whatever. So what are you doing down here?"  
  
Keith shrugged. "Same thing you are. I'm investigating." He suddenly stopped, making Lance run into his back accidentally.  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"Shhhhh!" Keith slapped a hand over Lance's mouth and pressed him to the wall behind him with surprising strength. "Stay behind me, don't move unless I tell you too."  
  
Lance did as he asked, eyes frantically scanning the darkness that Keith was facing. It was quiet, but just as Lance opened his mouth to ask what was the matter, his flashlight flickered.  
  
"They're coming." Keith bit out a word in a language Lance didn't understand. "SHIRO!"  
  
Keith's desperate yell echoed off the walls just as Lance's flashlight died. The whispers started again, coming from in front of them. Lance could feel Keith in front of him, shielding him, but it was too dark for him to see anything.  
  
"Keith, I have candles if light would help?" Lance whispered.  
  
"No fire. Stay quiet." Keith hissed back.  
  
The whispers got louder and Lance pressed himself back into the stone. The voices grew to surround them and the distorted voice from before spoke, this time laughing. It was a terrible sound, cruel and mocking.  
  
"Protecting little humans now? Shouldn't you be doing what I am doing?" The rasp seemed to circle around Lance, inspecting him.  
  
"And what are you doing, exactly?" Keith asked back, his hand suddenly grasping Lance's.  
  
"I'm using them like you do, bloodsucker." The voice laughed and then spoke right in Lance's ear. "I'm devouring them."  
  
Keith surged forward, pulling Lance away from the wall but keeping him behind him. Lance stumbled, unable to see in the darkness, but he heard the feral, inhuman snarl that Keith made.  
  
The voice started to laugh again and the laugh grew until it was impossible to tell where it came from. Keith's  
Hand tightened on Lance's until it almost hurt. Lance's breath caught in his throat. The laughter got louder and pressed in on them.  
  
The sound of padded footsteps running towards them went unnoticed under the laughter, at least until a rush of air and tearing sound stopped the sound. Lance's flashlight flickered back on and shadows rushed from the corridor.  
  
Standing before Lance, teeth bared and panting, was a massive wolf. The thing's shoulder was the same height as Lance's, it's massive jaw big enough to crush his head with ease. A scar across the animal's nose cut through the coarse black fur, echoed in smaller scars across it's body, trophies of hard fights won. There was a white patch in the middle of the wolf's forehead, right between it's unsettlingly intelligent eyes.  
  
Keith sighed against Lance when the flashlight flickered onto the wolf. He let go of Lance's hand and went over to the massive animal and threw his arms around it's neck.  
  
"Keith!" Lance yelped, trying to grab Keith's jacket and pull him back before he got too close.  
  
Keith laughed and shrugged him off, Lance watching in amazement as the wolf began to gently nudge Keith with it's head.  
  
The wolf nudged Keith aside and Lance watched in horror and amazement as the wolf shifted into a very built, very naked man.  
  
"That timing was perfect, thank you." Keith grinned at the man.  
  
"Of course, doll. Who's the human?" The man glanced over at Lance, who was simply staring at them in shock.  
  
"Oh right. Uh, Shiro, this is Lance. I guess I knew him from school? He's here ghost hunting with some other kids. Lance, this is my boyfriend, Shiro." Keith pulled his backpack off and dug some clothes out of it to hand to Shiro.  
  
"He's cute." Shiro took the clothes from Keith and smiled charmingly. "Nice to meet you, Lance."  
  
"I- nice to meet you too Shiro- but what the hell?!" Lance rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "You're what, a werewolf?!? And Keith, that voice called you a bloodsucker?!?"  
  
Keith and Shiro shared a look.  
  
"He's seen me shift."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I meant what I said."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I'm going to tell him."  
  
"Ok."  
  
Shiro looked away from Keith, turning his bright smile back on Lance. "There's a lot to explain, Lance. I've got your friends' scents off you, so walk with us while I find them."  
  
Lance cast a suspicious glance at them both, but followed anyway. It wasn't like he could turn them down, exactly.  
  
"I'm a werewolf." Shiro didn't waste any time.  
  
Lance swallowed. "Werewolf. Okay."  
  
"I can turn voluntarily, but the moon does bring out certain urges, yes, I have a pack and you probably know some of the members. No, I can't turn anyone into a werewolf, it's genetic." Shiro counted off on his fingers the most common werewolf questions.  
  
"He's the alpha of his pack." Keith interjected.  
  
"Ah, I am, yes." Shiro seemed somewhat bashful about it. "I have a house out on the edge of Arus and also a den in the park, uh, and  I do have a job like a normal person. Any questions?"  
  
"Keith? The ghost?" Lance gestured around. "I don't know what the fuck is going on! My friends are in danger, possibly, and here I am taking a stroll through a crypt with a werewolf and whatever the fuck you are." Lance turned to shoot Keith a look. "A vampire?"  
  
Shiro burst out laughing, a warm sound that was almost a relief from the grating laugh of the ghost.  "Right in one!"  
  
"Wait, seriously?" Lance stopped walking to stare.  
  
"Yes. Keep walking." Keith sighed. "I'm a vampire."  
  
"Do you eat people?" Lance blurted, moving closer to Shiro.  
  
"What? No!" Keith looked affronted. "I'm not a zombie, for fucks sake. I drink blood. From animals."  
  
"And me." Shiro added cheerfully.  
  
"Only when strictly necessary! You taste gross."  
  
Shiro winked.  
  
"Wouldn't that turn Shiro into a vampire too?" Lance tried to ignore the weird flirting.  
  
Keith shook his head. "Wolves seem to be immune to vampirism, so no. Besides, I can only change someone if I drink their blood and they drink mine."  
  
Lance hummed. "So you're immortal, right? How old are you?"  
  
"18."

  
"When were you born, then?"  
  
"Ehh, maybe 1400ish? I'm not really sure."  
  
"What?!?" For the second time, Lance had to stop and stare at the two men he was following.  
  
"I know, right? He's practically robbing the cradle with me. I'm a mere 25." Shiro nudged Keith, who rolled his eyes but shot his boyfriend a fond look.  
  
"Let's keep moving. Shiro probably took care of Zarkon for now, but he'll be back before long." Keith grabbed Shiro's hand before reaching back with his other one and taking Lance's too. He pulled Lance up so the three could walk evenly, but he didn't drop Lance's hand.  
  
"Zarkon?" Lance glanced ahead, noticing a slight lightening at the end of the corridor they were in.  
  
Neither Shiro nor Keith said anything for a bit. When they reached where the path seemed to lighten, Lance realised it was because they had reached the entrance to the crypt.  
  
"Lance, do you want to be involved in this?" Shiro spoke, his voice no longer joking and warm.  
  
"In whatever is going on here?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Yeah. I do." Lance let go of Keith's hand and turned to face them. "My friend, the one I came out here for, loves the paranormal and isn't going to stop ghost hunting because of this. I want to know as much as I can so I can help keep my friends safe."  
  
Shiro and Keith shared a look.  
  
"Zarkon was the one who gave me the scar on my nose. He was the alpha of my pack before me and I defeated him in combat, killing him and taking over leadership. I had to, he wanted to start hunting humans." Shiro looked down when he spoke, fists clenched. "I had no choice. His mate exiled herself when he fell, but it looks like she's found a way to bring his ghost back through necromancy."  
  
Lance stared in amazement. "Necromancy?"  
  
"Yeah." Keith put his hand on Shiro's arm placatingly. "She brought his ghost back and now his ghost appears to be collecting and consuming other ghosts that just kinda naturally lingered in the cemetary, growing in power by consuming their essence. I wasn't sure of this until he talked to us earlier, but I believe he is looking to kill a human and use their body as a vessel. Zarkon means to return."  
  
"He..." Lance was dumstruck. So vampires, werewolves, and now murderous ghosts?  
  
"Go upstairs, Lance. Your friends are anxious." Keith smiled and gave him a soft push towards the stairs.  
  
"Hold on." Shiro reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone, wincing at the brightness of the screen as he opened a new contact form and passed his phone to Lance.  
  
Keith nodded. "Yeah, good idea. Text us if you're in trouble."  
  
Shiro shrugged as Lance passed the phone back. "Actually, it was if you ever wanted to go out with us sometime, but sure."  
  
"I- what??"  
  
"We think you're cute, idiot." Keith started to walk back into the darkness of the crypt with Shiro, turning to call over his shoulder. "Now go join your friends. We'll take care of shit down here."


	2. Wandering Around In Forests Looking For Cultists Is A Fun New Exercise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to do this whole thing in one chapter but then it got kinda long so I split it up. Also sorry about kinda leaving this in the lurch but I was doing marching band and that kinda devours all free time and energy.

"No, I'm not letting you drive my car again! Hunk almost puked in my poor baby's backseat!"  
  
"Almost, but he didn't. I'll be better at driving too now that I've had practise." Pidge huffed. "Besides, your shitty little sedan isn't nice enough for you to call it 'baby'."  
  
Lance pressed a hand to his chest and gasped. "How dare! Now you really aren't allowed to drive her."  
  
"Okay, okay, guys." Hunk made placating gestures. "Pidge, I'll be honest, I do not want you driving again. But, I do want to know why you want to borrow Blue."  
  
Pidge grinned maniacally and Lance felt his stomach drop. They were in for it now. Pidge reached into her bag and pulled out her pride and joy, the laptop she'd built and and programmed with the help of her older brother. She opened it up, typed in her absurdly long password, and turned it around for them to see.  
  
"And I'm looking at the national park's homepage?" Lance raised an eyebrow.  
  
"No! Well, yes, but specifically you're looking at the side column here," Pidge pointed at a side bar with past headlines from the park service. "And the increase in giant wolf sightings."  
  
She clicked on one of the headlines and scrolled through it excitedly, too fast for anyone to read it. "Several visitors have reported seeing what they believe to be massive wolves roaming the park, and while no rangers have been able to confirm these sightings, they have found bites on carcasses and markings that would seem to point to an increase in wolf activities. While the giant wolves are likely simply mistaken short glimpses of bears, there may be a new wolf pack in the area after all, so visitors are reminded not to interact with wildlife. Take only pictures!" Pidge recited the article in a cheerful, tour guide voice.  
  
"Soooo..." Hunk frowned. "Werewolves? Sasquatch? Cryptids? What're we looking at?"  
  
Pidge set her laptop aside and leant forward, resting her chin on her palm. "There's a bit more. I may or may not have been keeping track of radio chatter between rangers out in the park."  
  
"Pidge!"  
  
"What? It's fine. Anyway, there's also been reports of dead animals being found, cut up with knives and shit, that animals are refusing to touch. So I'm thinking magic. For real. Like, legit cultists or something." Pidge grinned. "Who's with me?"  
  
"Pfft." Lance glanced at Hunk. "We don't really have a choice, do we?"  
  
Old Lance would have never, in a million years, agreed to go look for cultists in the woods. But current Lance had just a bit more info than old Lance had. And two boyfriends that he wanted to help.  
  
Shiro and Keith hadn't really explained much about the whole "evil ghosts and necromancer werewolves" buisness even since they'd officially started dating. He had a suspicion they were trying to keep him safe and uninvolved, but he wanted to help.  
  
"You're not putting up much of a fight." Hunk squinted suspiciously at him.  
  
Lance shrugged. "I'm a little interested, ok?"  
  
Pidge was practically bouncing out of her seat in excitement. "Great! We can go tomorrow at 4, maybe 5ish. Can I drive?"  
  
"NO!"

  
~*~

  
"Where should we park? One of the overlooks? The visitor's center?" Lance drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he coasted down the parkway.  
  
"The visitor's center. We're gonna do most of this on foot so the engine doesn't scare off things." Pidge was sitting cross-legged and unbuckled on the bench seat in the back of Lance's car, going through three back packs.  
  
"What if we want to scare off things?" Hunk muttered.  
  
"Just scream." Pidge answered cheerfully. "Ok, this time I have 3 EMF meters and temperature meters, plus extra batteries so if we get separated we can contact each other." She said pointedly.  
  
"Listen, I tried to use it but it wasn't working." Lance repeated the same story he'd been telling Pidge and Hunk about why he hadn't  radioed them for help down in the crypt.  
  
"Mmm. Anyway, there's also a pocket knife in each of the backpacks's little strap pouches, so if we run in to vines or actual cultists, I dunno." Pidge shrugged, unconcerned.  
  
Lance pulled into a parking space and shut the engine off. Hunk and Pidge got out of the car with him and he locked it up quickly, after adjusting the "camping" permit that allowed them to stay in the park after hours on his dashboard.  
  
"Now then, let's go." Pidge started off very confidently towards the tree line.  
  
"Uh, have you ever been to a forest before? " Lance called after her,  holding up a brouchre. "We should at least start on one of the hiking trails so we don't get super lost."  
  
Pidge spun on her heel. "Right, the hiking trails. I knew that."  
  
Lance and Hunk shared a look.  
  
"Listen, I don't go outside much, ok? I'm allergic." Pidge huffed. "Now where's the closest trail?"  
  
Lance unfolded to brouchre into a map of the park's trails. "Looks like the nearest trailhead is just down this road, off to our right."  
  
Forty-five minutes later, deep into the thickening forest, they still had found absolutely nothing of interest. The already muted sunlight was beginning to disappear as the sun started to set and a glance at Hunk told Lance that he was not the only one having serious second thoughts about this.  
  
"Pidge? Should we turn back?" Lance ventured.  "We've found nothing." He personally was fine with hiking and looking for dead animals, just not at night. His father had certainly gotten enough reports of climbers or hikers who had continued their ventures at night and made some consequent fatal mistake. Plus, it was entirely possible Zarkon was out here somewhere, looking for fresh bodies. He knew Shiro was spending almost all of his time in his den, somewhere in the forest, so theoretically Lance could text him if there was some serious danger, but he didn't know where the den was exactly (it seemed almost rude to ask) so there was no telling how far away help would be if he needed it.  
  
"Five more minutes?" Pidge glanced up at the trees. Lance and Hunk shared a look. It was the best offer they were likely to get.  
  
"Ok."  
  
Not even a minute later, Pidge suddenly shrieked, causing Lance to jump.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I found one!!!" Pidge, dropping into a crouch, started to inspect something on the ground. Lance cautiously crept forward, peering over her shoulder.  
  
A corpse of a rabbit lay on the ground, spread out in a sick display no animal could have achieved. Hunk gagged and turned away from the sight. It was skinned, the pelt laying fur down on the ground, each leg staked down so it was eagle spread, the rest of the rabbit appearing to be drained of blood yet covered in what Lance would say were dog bites. Or maybe wolf bites.  
  
"This is definitely what we're looking for." Pidge announced triumphantly.  
  
"You're sure? We can't, I dunno, look at these nice trees instead? These nice, not dead or tortured trees?" Hunk had his hands on his head, looking away while he tried to compose himself. Lance couldn't exactly blame him.  
  
Pidge glanced around. "Good idea, we should look to see if there are any more or maybe some tracks."  
  
"That wasn't what I meant!" Hunk whispered, mostly to himself. Lance patted his shoulder sympathetically.  
  
"Hey, Hunk was right! There are some trees that have some blood and have been marked up, let's follow them." Pidge happy took off, abandoning the trail before anyone could say anything. Lance had no choice but to follow her, jogging to catch up.  
  
After a minute or two she slowed so Hunk could catch up with them, still following the trees and blood that seemed to be almost too easy to track.  
  
The trail kept going , another broken branch or conspicuous blood splatter appearing every time they thought they'd lost it. More than once, Lance's foot caught on a rock or branch and nearly tripped him, forcing him to jog to catch back up to Pidge.  
  
"Look!" Pidge stopped suddenly, dropping to her knee. There, at the base of a tree, was a small patch of mud with a very clear imprint pressed in. It looked like a dog's, but far too big. There were deep marks where the claws would be and all together the mark was bigger than Lance's hand.  
  
"Pidge?" The nervousness in Hunk's voice reflected how Lance felt.

"The average grey wolf print is between 4 and 5 inches. This one's almost 8!" Pidge pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of it next to her hand. "See, I knew there was something strange going on here."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, wolves are cool, I love giant wolves, can we please go back now?" Hunk sounded terrified. Lance looked up at him and found his friend staring into the darkness of the trees ahead of them.  
  
"Hunk?"  
  
Hunk shook his head. "Guys, I've got a real bad feeling about this. I think there's something out there."  
  
Pidge glanced over and shook her head. "Don't worry, no animal would mess with three humans."  
  
At her words, a low growl sounded from the trees. Lance froze, his body going cold. Yellow eyes appeared in the trees. Slowly, a large wolf crept into their sight. Big as it was, the wolf was smaller than Shiro. This wolf was thinner and shorter, the fur a dull dirty white, shaggy and matted, and seemed to hang off the wolf's body limply. To put it simply, the wolf looked sick.  
  
"Hey there, we're not gonna hurt you." Lance held up his hands in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. The wolf growled. "Please don't hurt us!"  
  
The wolf stopped abruptly at Lance's high pitched, frightened shout. It locked eyes with Lance, then let loose a raspy snarl and lunged.  
  
Lance's body responded by itself and he was turning and running at full speed before he even realised what was happening. Pidge and Hunk beside him, their footfalls heavy and panicked on the earth. The wolf's strange rasping growl behind them kept them going, running and running even though all three were out of breath.  
  
Then, Lance felt his foot catch. Pidge and Hunk were ahead of him, so they didn't see him fall. They kept running, leaving him behind as he struggled to get up. The wolf's growl increased, sounding disturbingly like human laughter.  
  
Lance scrambled to his feet and took off, going away from where Pidge and Hunk had gone. If this wolf was going to catch him, he might as well give his friends a head start.  
  
Sucking in as much air as he could while running, Lance screamed Shiro's name as loud as he could mange. It was too quiet.  
  
Lance could feel his legs burning and shaking and he knew he couldn't run much longer. Swinging himself behind a tree, he groped frantically for a branch, a rock, anything he could use to hit the wolf. His ears straining for any sound of the animal, his hand closed around a fist-sized rock. It was better than nothing.  
  
The wolf's growls quieted, paws entirely silent on the forest floor.  
  
Lance held his breath, ears straining to figure out where the wolf was. There was a hot, wet breath on his leg and Lance sprung away from the tree. The wolf advanced, an eerily confident gleam in it's yellow eyes. Lance lifted his hand, rock readied.  
  
There was a deep snarl from behind him and another wolf lept out from the trees. Entirely black but for white ears, it sprung on the haggard white one. A cacophony of snarling started and cut off abruptly, the white wolf springing away with a whine, shoulder bloodied. It slink back off into the treeline, leaving Lance alone with the newcomer.  
  
The black wolf turned to face Lance, tilting it's head like a dog as it quietly regarded Lance. Unlike how fragile the other wolf had seemed, this one was clearly built for power. Not quite as tall as Shiro, but with a broader chest that rippled with muscles, Lance knew if this wolf meant to kill him, he was done for.  
  
Instead, the wolf shuddered and the fur slid off, revealing an older man with streaks of grey across his temples. He held his hand out to Lance.  
  
"I am Thace. I heard you call for Shiro."  
  
Lance hesitated, then shook Thace's hand. It was warm and calloused.  
  
"Lance."  
  
"How do you know Shiro?" Thace's tone was friendly enough, but there was an underlying threat.  
  
"I'm, uh, dating him, I guess."  
  
Thace raised an eyebrow. "You're not a vampire."  
  
Lance bit his lip. "Um, no, but I'm dating Keith too?"  
  
Thace regarded him quietly for some time. "Because you know Keith's name, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and take you to our den. Shiro is not back yet to corroborate your story but his mate is. I don't suppose I need to tell you what will happen if your story proves false and you a spy for Haggar." Thace remarked evenly.  
  
Lance swallowed hard and shook his head.  
  
"Good. Then, get on and hold tight." Thace shuddered again as fur overtook him and he became a wolf once more. Lance hesitated, unsure of how to get on, exactly, settling for simply swinging a leg over and gripping There's neck as though he was a very large, furry horse. Muscles rippled under the skin and then they were moving, headed off to either Lance's boyfriends or his death.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to request something or just watch me shitpost my tumblr is [here ](moonlightinwater.tumblr.com)


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